Synthetic biodegradable polymers have significant potential in various fields of bioengineering, such as tissue engineering and drug delivery. Synthetic biodegradable polymers are used as components in a variety of biomedical devices, such as, for example, implants, pacemakers, heart valves, artificial joints, tubing, shunts, dialyzers, oxygenators, dental materials, tablet coatings, drug delivery devices, sutures, staples, adhesives, and the like. The design of these biomaterials is challenging because of the application-specific requirements on the physical and chemical properties of the biomaterials, including mechanical compliance, strength, degradation, biocompatibility, etc. For example, synthetic biodegradable polymers that are designed as replacements for soft and hard tissues must sustain and recover from various stressors and deformations. Ideally, the material should resemble the mechanical properties of the tissues found at the implantation site to prevent mechanical irritation and not compromise the structural integrity of target tissues and organs. Biodegradable polymers whose properties resemble that of the extracellular matrix, a soft, tough, and elastomeric proteinaceous network, provide the best mechanical stability and structural integrity to tissues and organs. To date, such elastomeric biomaterials include hydrogels (for example, Lee et al., Macromolecules (2000) 33:4291-4294; Temenoff et al., J. Biomed. Mater. Res. (2002) 59:429-437), elastin-like peptides (for example, van Hest et al., Chem. Comm. (2001) 19:1897-1904; Welsh et al., Biomacromolecules (2000) 1:23-30), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) (for example, Poirier et al., BioTechnology (1995) 13:142-150; Sodian et al., Tissue Eng. (2000) 6:183-187), and tough biodegradable elastomers such as poly(diol-citrate) (PDC), poly(glycerol-sebacate) (PGS), poly(D,L-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone), and poly(ε-caprolactone).
There remains a need in the art for synthetic biodegradable polymers with a wide range of chemical and physical properties for use in bioengineering.